Flowers can grow in ‘Saturnas’
Kazimieras Valaitis, decorative screen for a restaurant in Vilnius, 1969.
The hemispheres of the unique cosmic vacuum cleaner were easily usable for artistic experimentations. For example, even before Lithuania’s independence was restored from the Soviet Union, architect Vytautas Edmundas Čekanauskas made lampshades for the Composers’ Union House by repainting the sphere-shaped outer shell of Saturnas. Thus, the shape of the Saturnas vacuum cleaner and the name and variety of colors of these objects became part of Lithuianain design heritage.
The afterlife of Saturnas vacuum cleaners is varied. Some are still used to clean houses to this day, and some are collected as unique objects. Several ‘Saturnas’ are also dismantled, but for different reasons, either disrespect or wanting to transform the parts out of creative admiration.
For instance, a number of people turn the half-sphere into flower pots.